KATHMANDU UNIVERSITY

School of Engineering

Subject Code : CIEG 405 Credit hours :3

Subject Name : Entrepreneurship and Ethics Teaching Faculty: Ananta Mainali

Credit Value : 25% mainaliak@gmail.com

Deadline : 25 May 2020

Please read this assessment brief in its entirety before attempting your assignment.

Purpose of the Assessment

The purpose of the assignment is to assess students’ ability to identify key challenges facing
entrepreneurs and the implications of exporting in different markets. It is designed to provide students
with the skills for problem-solving: present and discuss opportunities for business from a
entrepreneurial perspective.

The Assessment Task (2,000 words)

Using the company and scenario presented in the case provided below examine the following points
to make recommendations in a report for that company’s successful entrepreneurial venture in the
foreign market based on your understanding of the module contents

Completing the report successfully will require thorough reference to academic and practitioner
literature, as appropriate. The underlying idea is that your report must be both practically relevant and
make use of theory.

Word length: 2000 (+/-10%)

Submission deadline: 25 May 2020

Your grade will depend on the extent to which you demonstrate application of concepts discussed in
the class in the way relevant for this assessment.

Word Limits (where appropriate)

The maximum word limit for this assessment is 2000 words, a submission exceeds the stipulated
word limit by more than 10%, the submission will only be marked up to and including the additional
10%. Anything over this will not be included in the grade process for the assessment item.
Abstracts, bibliographies, reference lists, appendices and footnotes are excluded from any word limit
requirements.

Plagiarism, Academic Integrity and Referencing

This is an individual assessment, the work you produce must be your own with work taken from any
other source properly referenced and attributed. The Kathmandu University policy will apply in all
cases of copying, plagiarism or any other methods by which students have obtained (or attempted to
obtain) an unfair advantage.
Please note that the penalties for copying work from another source without proper referencing
are severe and can include failing the assessment, failing the module and expulsion from the
university.

Your paper must be fully and correctly referenced both in the text and at the end using the Harvard
system.

Assessment Submission
To submit your work, please send it via email to mainaliak@gmail.com no later than 11:59 pm on the
last date of submission in MS WORD (.doc) or PDF (.pdf) format.

CASE STUDY

MoMo Shoppe going global

The MoMo Shoppe, located in Upstream Road, New York, manufactures and distributes
MoMo. Boris Johnson and his girlfriend Carrie Symonds, cofounders of The MoMo Shoppe,
first came up with the idea for a MoMo business while on their vacation trip in Nepal. They
were inspired by the many shapes of MoMo they discovered as they traveled throughout the
many regions of Nepal. What differentiates The MoMo Company from its competitors is that
it makes MoMo in a variety of fun shapes that are tied to people’s favorite college sports
teams and to various holidays, such as Christmas, St Patrick’s Day, Halloween, and
Thanksgiving. The Johnsons found a way to Americanize the variety of MoMo shapes that
had caught their imaginations while on their vacation.

Rather than compete with other mass production MoMo businesses, the Johnsons chose to
build the company by focusing on small batch production using high-quality ingredients and
a carefully designed manufacturing process. The company buys all of its wheat from the
Dakotas and uses specially designed bronze tools to make the MoMo into the various shapes.
The MoMo Shoppe freezes the MoMo in refrigerators, rather than using ordinary storages
airconditioned space favored by many small scale manufacturers. Its products are sold online,
through specialty retailers, and as a fundraising product for schools and youth programs. The
MoMo Shoppe is able to more favorably price its products by avoiding selling through mass
retailers, which typically demand discounts. The company has experienced strong growth in
the U.S. market since it was founded in 1994, even during economic downturns.

Then in 1998, The MoMo Shoppe entered its first international market, Spain, which remains
its largest market outside the United States. Its success in Spain is due to large Nepali
populations as well as Spanish interest in Nepali cuisines and celebrations. Borris Johnson
recognized that international markets would extend the company’s season for its products due
to the earlier production needed to move its product to Spanish distributors. The company
quickly learned that to be successful, it had to customize its products and packaging to fit the
Spanish consumer market.

The MoMo Shoppe’s first entry into Spain had to be cut short in 2000 due to European
economic recession. Because the two years it sold in Spain were highly successful, the
company reentered the Spanish market in 2003 after the recession had been recovered.

Based on its success in Spain, The MoMo Shoppe now exports to Canada, Australia, the
United Kingdom, Japan, Portugal, and Russia. The company is currently attempting to
develop distribution into the Malaysia and South Korea. However, although the Johnsons
have tried, they have made no headway into exporting to Gulf.

When considering a move into a new international market, the Johnsons use specific criteria
to assess its attractiveness. In addition to the quality of the foreign distributor and projected
cash flow, timing is everything. The company looks for international sales that do not conflict
with sales in the domestic market, which peak from September through December, because
the U.S. market remains its most profitable market.

Pricing is the key to success in international markets for The MoMo Shoppe. “It’s our
toughest priced sales channel,” says Johnson.

1. Identify the risks and the benefits The MoMo Shoppe faces by operating as a global
business.
2. Identify some of the barriers that companies such as The MoMo Shoppe encounter as
they expand internationally. What steps can entrepreneurs take to overcome these
obstacles?
3. What steps do you recommend that entrepreneurs such as Borris Johnson take before
they make the decision to take their companies global?
4. What ethical challenges can you anticipate and what do you suggest to mitigate them?
5. Make necessary recommendations pertaining financial aspects in this scenario for the
business to such an emerging entrepreneur.

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